Safety shouldn't start with guns

I don’t understand Steve Youngdahl’s obsession with finding any way to put guns into our schools. Schools are statistically the safest place for children. The rate of student deaths in school from a shooter is less than 1 in 2.5 million. That data also includes gang violence at schools. This compares to the U.S. average death rate from gun homicide at 1 in 28,000 and an average firearm accident rate with an emergency room visit of 1 in 16,000.

This week, we had a shooting at a school in Nevada. This was a scenario where I can agree a concealed gun might have made a difference. The teacher was a former Marine. This story made national news. If this shooting was not in a school, we would never hear about it. Just the following day, a police officer in a school in California accidentally hurt three students when his gun misfired. We never hear about those stories because they are all too common.

At the school board meeting, despite overwhelming opposition from the teachers and the board, Mr. Youngdahl is still trying to find some way to introduce guns into our schools. Going so far as trying and failing to pre-authorize $10,000 to give to the sheriff’s department just to investigate options that I feel should be part of their responsibility in the first place.

Can schools be even safer? Of course they can, but, starting with guns and then trying to find a solution to fit is reckless.

TOM BOKOWY

Sandpoint